MESSENGER: A PARABLE

From the bestselling author of Joshua and A Portrait of Jesus comes a moving, eye-opening parable about a messenger sent to reawaken faith, love, and compassion in a world that has strayed from the lessons of the Gospels.

In this Image paperback original, Joseph Girzone once again weaves a story that will transform readers understanding of Jesus teaching and change the way they put that teaching into action in their own lives. The Messenger is the story of the Kingdom of Light created by God on Earth. This kingdom started as a small community and grew to encompass vast numbers of people of every race and nation, transcending the boundaries of all worldly realms. But with the passage of time, the message of peace and forgiveness, love and joy, preserved in the book, is forgotten, overwhelmed by the selfish interests of its leaders. Watching over his people, God resolves to send a special messenger to renew the spirit of compassion and freedom among the rulers of the world. Francis, who became attached to God as a young boy and never lost the beauty and joy of that friendship, is entrusted with the precious mission.

As Francis travels throughout the United States, Girzone brings to life the conflicts, hostility, and pain of our times and points the way toward peace and understanding. With humility and a strong sense of purpose, Francis teaches leaders to break through the crushing letter of the law and restore its spirit, to reunite groups torn apart by prejudice and hatred through love, and to show compassion to the less fortunate by welcoming them back home to the kingdom. Under the guidance of a new ruler well versed in the book, fear and skepticism give way to the sharing of ideas and the bringing together of people of different beliefs. And the miracle that begins in one part of the world soon spreads, touching the hearts and of transfiguring the lives of the people across the globe.

Joseph Girzone

Joseph Girzone, an international bestselling writer, is the author of the popular and inspirational Joshua books, which are an imaginative telling of the life of Jesus. It is estimated that more than forty million people in the U.S. have read those books. In 1995 Girzone established the Joshua Foundation, "an organization dedicated to making Jesus better known throughout the world." He retired from the active priesthood in 1981 and has devoted his life to writing about Jesus. He lives in Altamont, New York and blogs at www.JoshuaMountain.org.

Arriving in the Canadian frontier settlement of Bliss, Tieney Caulder is stunned to find sweetheart Robert Dunbar engaged to another woman. In Scotland, he was unable to marry Tierney because of the lack of money. Sent to the New World by his father to stake a claim for the family, Robert has now promised to marry a dying widow and care for her children in exchange for her land. As Tierney and Robert struggle, the continuing romance between Molly Morrison and the Reverend Parker Jones reaches a conclusion. In the course of their struggles, both couples learn much about themselves and about their faith. A light historical romance for series fans.

- Library Review

Girzones fans, who have followed the parablist through his many slim volumes of simplistic restatements of Christs messages, as well as his taking on of new subjects such as gay marriage and women in the priesthood, will be delighted to hear that his Jesus figure, Joshua (1990), will arrive in movie theaters next spring just as this new book comes out. Girzone, who retired from the active priesthood in 1981, is on a mission to lift Christs parables out of the archaic and bring them to modern man-call it Christ in khakis, perhaps. In The Messenger, he takes on the divisions in the Kingdom of Light (the Catholic Church), the bureaucracies swamping the Vatican, the splinter groups abandoning the Kingdoms authority, and non-Kingdom preachers springing up with flocks of their own, and so on, all of this making Christ fade from the forefront of faith. This time, Girzone gives up Joshua for Francis, a maverick priest seemingly based on Girzones own life and career. Francis flies about the globe making friends and giving long talks about the King (Jesus), whose tender spirit has been wounded by the many cracks splitting his Kingdom. Girzone still oraculates his story in parables, but this mode is mushy when he should give real sinew to Franciss antagonist.